Grey Regulations, Real Dangers: Why Using Earphones While Driving is Prohibited?
JAKARTA - Using earphones while driving has become a lifestyle for some people, making it hard to abandon.
Some individuals realise that using earphones while driving can divide attention during the journey and potentially cause accidents.
However, many drivers still do not understand whether the habit of using earphones can be categorised as a traffic violation or not.
“Actually, regarding the rules, I’m not quite sure, whether this falls under violating traffic or endangering oneself. But as far as I’ve used it, if the police are visible, it’s fine, I’ve never been fined,” said one driver named Febri (23) when met in the West Jakarta area on Friday (8/5/2026).
“But it can still be subject to sanctions because it is considered to disrupt concentration while driving. The legal basis is Article 283 in conjunction with Article 106 Paragraph 1 of the Road Traffic and Transportation Law (UULAJ),” said Ojo when contacted by Kompas.com on Friday.
The content of the article is: ‘Every person who drives a motor vehicle on the road in an unreasonable manner and engages in other activities or is influenced by a condition that causes disruption to concentration in driving on the road can be sentenced to imprisonment for a maximum of three months or a fine of a maximum of Rp750,000’.
However, because it is not clearly regulated, enforcement against violations of using earphones while driving becomes obstructed.
Police often argue with violators who feel that using earphones while driving does not violate traffic rules, because it is not written in the Law.
Then, another obstacle is the small size of earphones which are often not visible to the naked eye, because they are inserted into the ears and covered by a helmet.
On the other hand, police also often have difficulty in proving that using earphones can disrupt concentration while driving.
This is because it directly relates to the detection of dangers and concentration from drivers.
“Police see that drivers do not only rely on sight but also hearing when driving, earphones can block or reduce the sound of horns from other road users,” he said.
In addition, using earphones can also disrupt concentration and slow down the driver’s reaction in emergency conditions.